You don't read this blog for biblical exegesis, and nor should you. But whether or not you have any religious affiliation, even if the only time you've crossed the portal of a house of worship was when your parents took you along for baptism or circumcision, you almost certainly know the parable of the Prodigal Son. (It's only in Luke's gospel; you can find it here).
If you've thought about that parable for more than a second, you've probably taken sides. Are you with the father, who welcomes back his wastrel offspring, or with the prodigal's brother, who resents the treatment his "worthless" brother receives on his return to the family home? Which side of that question you're on will largely correspond to whether you lean to the left or to the right politically.
All this is just to urge you to read a wonderful little essay by David Brooks of the New York Times, who riffs off the parable to draw some interesting and profound lessons about some of the key issues in modern politics, especially the inexorable increase in inequality. If you're at all familiar with the NYT's politics, you won't need to read the article to know that Brooks sides with the father rather than the resentful son.
Whether or not you believe that the Bible is the word of God, Brooks offers up a useful reminder of its lingering historical resonance, at a time when a surprising number of evangelists have managed to convince themselves of the existence of something they call "the prosperity gospel". It's hard to read Luke that way. Did you notice that Brooks's title refers to the prodigal sons, plural? That's not a typo.
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